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Thursday, March 09, 2023 1:53:03 PM
6 month flashback - Lawsuit against Denver-based Dominion Voting tossed after judge finds no basis for claims
"Lawsuit against Fox shows the news behind the Trump news"
By MICHAEL KARLIK michael.karlik@coloradopolitics.com Oct 5, 2022 Updated Oct 12, 2022
The Alfred A. Arraj United States Courthouse, on Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2022, in Denver, Colo. (Timothy Hurst/The Denver Gazette)
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A federal judge has tossed a lawsuit from multiple Michigan residents against Denver-based Dominion Voting Systems, Inc. after finding the plaintiffs failed to allege any actual injury from the company's efforts to protect itself against defamation.
Dominion, which supplies voting machines and software to states and counties, attracted the attention of former President Donald Trump and his supporters around the 2020 election. After Trump lost, he tweeted .. https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-trump-tweets-tall-tale-votes-13c104367924b8192b4fcecf334f7806 .. that Dominion machines had "deleted" millions of votes cast for him, and a lawsuit filed in Michigan claimed Dominion had a role in a far-fetched vote-rigging scheme to elect President Joe Biden.
When Dominion fought back by sending cease-and-desist letters to multiple people warning against defaming the company, eight Michigan residents sued the company in federal court in Colorado. The plaintiffs accused Dominion of waging "lawfare" — a combination of lawsuit and warfare — and of retaliating against them for exercising their First Amendment rights.
However, last month, U.S. District Court Chief Judge Philip A. Brimmer rejected the notion that the plaintiffs even had standing to sue because Dominion never ended up taking action against them.
"Plaintiffs have not plausibly alleged that litigation against them was actual, imminent, or certainly impending when they filed their lawsuit," Brimmer wrote in a Sept. 22 order. "Plaintiffs allege only that they feared being sued."
Following the election, the Associated Press found there was neither evidence of widespread fraud in the 2020 election nor of "major problems with Dominion’s systems." The AP also cited election officials from both parties, international observers and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, a federal agency involved in the security of U.S. elections, in their findings of no evidence of lost, deleted or altered votes.
The plaintiffs came to the attention of Dominion after they authored affidavits describing irregularities they allegedly witnessed at a polling station in Detroit during the 2020 election. Subsequently, they received identical letters from law firm Clare Locke LLP, which represented Dominion amid various legal challenges .. https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-factcheck-courts-election/fact-check-courts-have-dismissed-multiple-lawsuits-of-alleged-electoral-fraud-presented-by-trump-campaign-idUSKBN2AF1G1 .. to the presidential election results.
"We write to you regarding the ongoing misinformation campaigns falsely accusing Dominion of somehow rigging or otherwise improperly influencing the outcome of the November 2020 U.S. presidential election," the letter read. "Litigation regarding these issues is imminent. This letter is your formal notice to cease and desist taking part in defaming Dominion."
The letter also asked recipients to preserve documents and communications "that may be relevant to Dominion's pending legal claims."
The plaintiffs then filed a proposed class action lawsuit against Dominion, Clare Locke and Hamilton Place Strategies — Dominion's public relations firm — on behalf of an estimated 150 people who received the letters.
"Dominion’s true purpose is not thus simply to silence Plaintiffs and the Class, but to silence any person, including news networks, whose job it is to hold government officials accountable, who might speak about election integrity and security or bring evidence of possible voting fraud or irregularities to light regarding the November 2020 election," the lawsuit read.
The litigation accused the defendants of violating federal organized crime law, of First Amendment retaliation, and of conspiring to violate plaintiffs' rights as a "state actor." In outlining the alleged injuries of the plaintiffs, the lawsuit claimed several of them bought home security systems after receiving the cease-and-desist letter.
One plaintiff, Francis J. Cizmar, "never leaves his home without making sure his security system is turned on. And while at home, he makes sure that all doors and windows remain locked."
In February, Dominion and the other defendants moved to dismiss the lawsuit. They argued Dominion had a right to defend itself against defamation and sending a letter putting people on notice of potential litigation is not only legal, but required under many states' laws.
"Dominion has not sued these Plaintiffs. But, if it were to sue any of them, they would be entitled to all the constitutional protections under existing constitutional and common law principles, including the elemental requirement that defamation claims must be based on false statements of fact, not mere expression of opinion," the defendants wrote.
They added that they could not be held accountable for First Amendment violations because they were private entities not acting on behalf of the government.
Brimmer agreed at the outset with the defendants that the plaintiffs suffered no injury from the letters, which did not threaten litigation against them personally. Although Dominion has sued conservative media outlets and prominent backers of Trump for their public claims, Brimmer did not see the Michigan residents in the same position as those parties.
"Plaintiffs here contend that some of them have standing because they incurred certain costs, such as through the installation of a video doorbell or home security system, but," Brimmer wrote, "plaintiffs manufactured this harm based on uncertain fear of future events."
He added that the plaintiffs received their letters in December 2020 or January 2021, but waited nine months to file their class action complaint. To Brimmer, that did not suggest a fear of an imminent lawsuit from Dominion.
Finally, the judge agreed Dominion could not be sued for constitutional violations because it was not acting on behalf of the government. Even though Dominion contracts with state entities for election equipment, there was "no allegation that Dominion was a state actor when it allegedly targeted conservatives with its letters," Brimmer concluded.
Earlier this year, the federal appeals court based in Denver shot down another lawsuit against Dominion for lack of standing. Dominion has filed its own claims against the Fox News and Newsmax networks, as well as Trump supporters Rudy Giuliani, Mike Lindell and others, accusing them of spreading misinformation about the company and harming its employees.
The case is Cooper et al. v. US Dominion, Inc. et al.
https://www.coloradopolitics.com/courts/lawsuit-against-denver-based-dominion-voting-tossed-after-judge-finds-no-basis-for-claims/article_16ca496e-44fc-11ed-a6c7-a38f13f4b4c5.html
"Lawsuit against Fox shows the news behind the Trump news"
By MICHAEL KARLIK michael.karlik@coloradopolitics.com Oct 5, 2022 Updated Oct 12, 2022
The Alfred A. Arraj United States Courthouse, on Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2022, in Denver, Colo. (Timothy Hurst/The Denver Gazette)
All links
A federal judge has tossed a lawsuit from multiple Michigan residents against Denver-based Dominion Voting Systems, Inc. after finding the plaintiffs failed to allege any actual injury from the company's efforts to protect itself against defamation.
Dominion, which supplies voting machines and software to states and counties, attracted the attention of former President Donald Trump and his supporters around the 2020 election. After Trump lost, he tweeted .. https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-trump-tweets-tall-tale-votes-13c104367924b8192b4fcecf334f7806 .. that Dominion machines had "deleted" millions of votes cast for him, and a lawsuit filed in Michigan claimed Dominion had a role in a far-fetched vote-rigging scheme to elect President Joe Biden.
When Dominion fought back by sending cease-and-desist letters to multiple people warning against defaming the company, eight Michigan residents sued the company in federal court in Colorado. The plaintiffs accused Dominion of waging "lawfare" — a combination of lawsuit and warfare — and of retaliating against them for exercising their First Amendment rights.
However, last month, U.S. District Court Chief Judge Philip A. Brimmer rejected the notion that the plaintiffs even had standing to sue because Dominion never ended up taking action against them.
"Plaintiffs have not plausibly alleged that litigation against them was actual, imminent, or certainly impending when they filed their lawsuit," Brimmer wrote in a Sept. 22 order. "Plaintiffs allege only that they feared being sued."
Following the election, the Associated Press found there was neither evidence of widespread fraud in the 2020 election nor of "major problems with Dominion’s systems." The AP also cited election officials from both parties, international observers and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, a federal agency involved in the security of U.S. elections, in their findings of no evidence of lost, deleted or altered votes.
The plaintiffs came to the attention of Dominion after they authored affidavits describing irregularities they allegedly witnessed at a polling station in Detroit during the 2020 election. Subsequently, they received identical letters from law firm Clare Locke LLP, which represented Dominion amid various legal challenges .. https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-factcheck-courts-election/fact-check-courts-have-dismissed-multiple-lawsuits-of-alleged-electoral-fraud-presented-by-trump-campaign-idUSKBN2AF1G1 .. to the presidential election results.
"We write to you regarding the ongoing misinformation campaigns falsely accusing Dominion of somehow rigging or otherwise improperly influencing the outcome of the November 2020 U.S. presidential election," the letter read. "Litigation regarding these issues is imminent. This letter is your formal notice to cease and desist taking part in defaming Dominion."
The letter also asked recipients to preserve documents and communications "that may be relevant to Dominion's pending legal claims."
The plaintiffs then filed a proposed class action lawsuit against Dominion, Clare Locke and Hamilton Place Strategies — Dominion's public relations firm — on behalf of an estimated 150 people who received the letters.
"Dominion’s true purpose is not thus simply to silence Plaintiffs and the Class, but to silence any person, including news networks, whose job it is to hold government officials accountable, who might speak about election integrity and security or bring evidence of possible voting fraud or irregularities to light regarding the November 2020 election," the lawsuit read.
The litigation accused the defendants of violating federal organized crime law, of First Amendment retaliation, and of conspiring to violate plaintiffs' rights as a "state actor." In outlining the alleged injuries of the plaintiffs, the lawsuit claimed several of them bought home security systems after receiving the cease-and-desist letter.
One plaintiff, Francis J. Cizmar, "never leaves his home without making sure his security system is turned on. And while at home, he makes sure that all doors and windows remain locked."
In February, Dominion and the other defendants moved to dismiss the lawsuit. They argued Dominion had a right to defend itself against defamation and sending a letter putting people on notice of potential litigation is not only legal, but required under many states' laws.
"Dominion has not sued these Plaintiffs. But, if it were to sue any of them, they would be entitled to all the constitutional protections under existing constitutional and common law principles, including the elemental requirement that defamation claims must be based on false statements of fact, not mere expression of opinion," the defendants wrote.
They added that they could not be held accountable for First Amendment violations because they were private entities not acting on behalf of the government.
Brimmer agreed at the outset with the defendants that the plaintiffs suffered no injury from the letters, which did not threaten litigation against them personally. Although Dominion has sued conservative media outlets and prominent backers of Trump for their public claims, Brimmer did not see the Michigan residents in the same position as those parties.
"Plaintiffs here contend that some of them have standing because they incurred certain costs, such as through the installation of a video doorbell or home security system, but," Brimmer wrote, "plaintiffs manufactured this harm based on uncertain fear of future events."
He added that the plaintiffs received their letters in December 2020 or January 2021, but waited nine months to file their class action complaint. To Brimmer, that did not suggest a fear of an imminent lawsuit from Dominion.
Finally, the judge agreed Dominion could not be sued for constitutional violations because it was not acting on behalf of the government. Even though Dominion contracts with state entities for election equipment, there was "no allegation that Dominion was a state actor when it allegedly targeted conservatives with its letters," Brimmer concluded.
Earlier this year, the federal appeals court based in Denver shot down another lawsuit against Dominion for lack of standing. Dominion has filed its own claims against the Fox News and Newsmax networks, as well as Trump supporters Rudy Giuliani, Mike Lindell and others, accusing them of spreading misinformation about the company and harming its employees.
The case is Cooper et al. v. US Dominion, Inc. et al.
https://www.coloradopolitics.com/courts/lawsuit-against-denver-based-dominion-voting-tossed-after-judge-finds-no-basis-for-claims/article_16ca496e-44fc-11ed-a6c7-a38f13f4b4c5.html
It was Plato who said, “He, O men, is the wisest, who like Socrates, knows that his wisdom is in truth worth nothing”
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